6 Somali special forces soldiers killed in IED attack

By Magdalene Mukami

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - Six members of Somalia’s Danab special forces were killed in an al-Shabaab bomb attack late Monday, security forces in the Horn of Africa nation confirmed to local media.

A vehicle ferrying US-trained soldiers ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Leego area in the Lower Shabelle region just after leaving Belligodle Airfield where they were receiving training, said officials, also confirming to local media that some other soldiers injured in the attack were taken to hospital.

Through their propaganda radio, Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab militants claimed to have killed 12 soldiers in their attack.

The blast comes days after at least five people were killed and eight more wounded in a suicide bombing at a busy restaurant in the capital Mogadishu followed by another attack on a security checkpoint which killed three soldiers.

In recent days, al-Shabaab militants have intensified their attacks on security forces as Africa Union Mission Forces and Somali National Army soldiers continue pushing them out of their strongholds in successive military operations.